Whodunit? Poll seeks to find greatest ever crime novel

[The Telegraph, 20 oct. 2013]

Authors such as Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle will be fighting it out in a poll to find the greatest crime novel ever written

Rosa Silverman

Agatha Christie will compete with the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle and Raymond Chandler in a quest to identify the greatest crime novel ever written.

The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) has asked its 600 members, all authors, to pick what they consider to be the finest example of the genre, with the winner to be revealed as part of its 60th anniversary celebrations.

Among the whodunits on the shortlist are two works by Christie – her 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, published in 1926.

The competition will be stiff, however, as the American writer Chandler also has two books in the running – The Big Sleep, from 1939, and the 1953 novel The Long Goodbye.

The Hound of the Baskervilles, Conan Doyle’s 1902 thriller, is also in the running, along with more recent works such as The Silence of the Lambsby Thomas Harris and On Beulah Height by Reginald Hill.

Scandinavian crime fiction, which has achieved widespread popularity in recent years, is notably absent from the list.

The poll will also seek to identify the greatest crime series and greatest crime writer, with the shortlist for the latter title including PD James and Ruth Rendell.

The crime series shortlist includes Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmescollection and Ian Rankin’s Rebus novels.

Alison Joseph, chair of the association and author of the Sister Agnesmystery series, told the Independent on Sunday: "We see authors today stretching the limits of the genre, examining the truth of criminality, its causes, its effects, yet still telling page-turning stories.

"I was surprised there wasn't representation from the Scandinavian novelists since they consistently top the bestseller's list. Perhaps the bloodlust is all too much for people?"

The results of the poll will be revealed at Foyles bookshop on Charing Cross Road in London on November 5.